Nicole Monturo is an accomplished executive and leadership expert.

Tag: professional

To Achieve Success: Avoid These Common Mistakes

It’s great to be chosen as leader. There’s probably nothing more exciting than guiding your team through the thick and thins of a task. But as a cliché as it may sound, we know that power is always accompanied by responsibilities galore.

So, let’s find out what makes a great leader.

What Should You Be Worried About

Generally, when you work in a business, it’s idealistic to think that everyone will get along. So, you might face a little friction initially after getting chosen as the leader.

Moreover, as the chores pile up, the group members get more tense. This is the time when you need to take charge. Other than motivating your group members, you have to also divide tasks shrewdly.

Authenticity is key. Disrespecting other people shouldn’t be your intention, but you need to show that you are endowed with leadership qualities, and people need to abide by the rules you set forth.

Mistakes Made By Most Aspiring Leaders

It’s a well-known fact that history is one of the best teachers. So, learn from the failures of your predecessors. Here are some of the common blunders made by people trying to succeed in the lead role:

 

  • Change is constant, so accept it: Sometimes they may be in conflict with your long term goals, but changes are inevitable. You need to go with the flow and not stick firmly to your initial target because the situation isn’t the same anymore. But, you may argue that in some cases, stubborn leaders have come out as winners since they did not conform to suit the circumstances. To judge which of the aforementioned choices would be apt for your team, you must have a group of trusted and experienced people. You can consult other executives and administrators at the business for some sage advice.

 

  • Take charge and take the blame: When you don’t meet deadlines, and your objective seems far away, it’s mostly because you get busy with your daily tasks as an entrepreneur. A way to avoid such a situation is by setting a schedule on your calendar that you follow diligently. Another is by using features such as snooze on Gmail that’ll allow you to set up emails that will be delivered at a scheduled time. You should also be willing and ready to accept blame when plans you make or ideas you have don’t pan out the way you’d hoped. Like I said, authenticity is key, so taking charge and owning up to any mistakes  — whether they’re yours or your team’s — is an important part of being a leader.

 

  • Be curious about your mistakes: Ask yourself why you failed. If you don’t identify where you went wrong, you won’t be able to rectify it. Troubleshooting helps; it’s not always requisite of you to change the entire business model after one setback. The only real mistakes in life are the ones you don’t learn from.

 

  • Don’t be too quick: Try to slow down your pace. It’s true that businesses need to be run quickly and time crunches aren’t a new issue plaguing startups, but you need to allot some time to look back on your decisions and analyze your future moves. Take the time necessary for self-reflection and be honest with your assessment of yourself and your performance.

 

  • Performance over achievement: Don’t gloat about how much you’ve succeeded but rather think about your business’ performance. When achievements take the toll on you, shortcuts seem tempting that may clash with your long term goals.

 

So, there you go. Avoid these common erroneous methods, and you will come out the better in every sticky situation you may face as an entrepreneur. But, do you know what’s best? Trust in yourself, because no one knows your business better than you.

nicole monturo professionalism

10 Tips to Be More Professional

Your bosses, coworkers, and clients all have certain expectations for you. They expect you to perform the duties of your job, but they also expect that you’ll perform those duties in a certain way–in a word, they expect you to exhibit professionalism. While being professional can mean different things in different fields, below is a list of ten items that can help you be more professional in any occupation.

  1. Be punctual: Lateness is a sign of disrespect, so be sure to always come to work and meetings on time. Don’t be afraid to be early, either!
  2. Be prepared: If you don’t have the tools and materials to do your job, it looks like you don’t care about your job. Organize yourself and come to work ready to overcome any challenge.
  3. Body language: The smallest details of how we interact with others can have the most impact on their impression of us. Look people in the eye, stand up straight, and always maintain good posture.
  4. Dress appropriately: Just like with body language, how you present yourself makes a tremendous difference with how others perceive you. Wear clothes that show you take your job and yourself seriously.
  5. Have a good attitude: Staying positive and treating others with respect shows that you can handle challenges and setbacks responsibly and that you value your peers.
  6. Communicate well: Be sure to respond to messages in a timely fashion. If you ignore phone calls and emails and take days or weeks to apply, you look like you don’t care about the person who sent it or what they have to say.
  7. Criticize constructively: When you want to point out something that a coworker or client has done incorrectly or could improve upon, do so in such a way that doesn’t insult them, but empowers them to do better next time.
  8. Follow up: After meetings or completing a task, for example, be sure to check-in and go over what you discussed or did so that everyone involved is on the same page and that expectations are clear.
  9. Celebrate success: When you achieve a certain milestone or a coworker does a good job, acknowledge the moment! It demonstrates that you are proud of both your work and your coworkers.
  10. Go above and beyond: When you do only the minimum required of you, you show that you don’t really care about what you’re doing. Exceeding the call of duty can inspire others to do the same and shows that you’re committed to doing exemplary work.

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